Metropolitan of Nizhyn and Pryluky Kliment, chairman of the Information and Education Department of the UOC, commented on the news that Metropolitan Ioanaphan of Tulchin was handed a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 161 (“violation of the equality of citizens depending on their religious beliefs”), reports LB.ua.

According to him, Metropolitan Ionaphan took the suspicion calmly, he is confident in his innocence. “In the case of a full and impartial investigation of him (Metropolitan Ionaphan – Ed.), his innocence will be proven. He has repeatedly stated this. It should be noted that recently such proceedings have been opened several times under the same article of the Criminal Code, based on public statements by officials, politicians and even representatives of various faiths, which contained undisguised insults and discrimination against believers of the UOC for their religious beliefs,” he said. hierarch of the UOC.

Metropolitan Kliment said that for some reason the investigation of these cases is not so lively and does not receive such publicity in the media. “Of course, this fact in itself does not yet indicate the presence in our society of segregation into people of different sorts depending on their religious beliefs, but it can become a serious signal of respect for fundamental human rights,” said the Head of the Synodal Information and Education Department of the UOC.